VerraUia. 63 



the legs all brown, and with the hairs pale; also the hairs on thorax 

 and abdomen vary from black to yellow; especially among the females 

 the paler forms often occiir, sometimes with tibiæ and tarsi yellow. 



Length 2 — 2,8 mm. 



Ch. spiirius is common in Denmark, Frederiksberg Have, Søn- 

 dermarken, Utterslev Mose, Ordrup Mose, Charlottenlund, Erme- 

 lund. Dyrehaven, Lyngby Mose, Egebæks Vang, Ørholm, Geel Skov, 

 Ruderhegn, Bagsvær, Jægerspris, Tisvilde, Bogø south of Sealand, at 

 Lohals on Langeland, on Lolland at Maglemer, on Funen at Hvid- 

 kilde, in Jutland at Hejls south of Kolding, in Grejsdal and Højen- 

 bæk Dal at Vejle; the dates are ^^U — ^Va; it occurs in humid piaces 

 in woods, hovering on bushes and in low herbage. Pupæ were taken 

 in Dyrehaven in a hollow oak on ^U, developing on ^/s, at Ørholm 

 in a hollow beech on ^^4, developing on ^Vs, and they were taken in 

 flood refuse in Utterslev Mose in April, developing in May and in 

 Ruderhegn on ^U, developing on ^'^U (Kryger, Schlick, the author). 



Geographical distribution: — - All Europe down into Italy, and 

 on the Canaries, towards the north to northern Sweden, and also 

 occurring in North America. 



Remarks: I quite follow Verrall in considering holosericeus as 

 a synonym to spiirius, the characters given by Strobl give no safe 

 distinction, and the variation in the venation and in colours do not 

 follow each others, but in the female with the often pale colours the 

 middle cross-vein is more commonly below the apex of the mediastinal 

 vein than in the male. I think it beyond doubt, that holosericeus of 

 Meigen was the female to spurius. 



3. Verpallia Mik. 



Species of medium size, in the male of velvet black, in the female 

 of greyish colour, nearly related to Chalarus. Head (fig. 33) semiglo- 

 bular, a little broader than thorax, flat or very slightly concave 

 behind, and without any margin behind the eyes; along the hinder 

 eye-margin a row of dense, short hairs. Eyes large, occupying the 

 whole front part of the head, touching or nearly so in the male, a 

 little more broadly separated in the female; in this latter sex the 

 frons widens a little downwards and epistoma is again broader. 

 Vertex a little raised, with three ocelli, it is covered with short hairs 

 and has a pair of long, parallel, ocellar bristles, directed forwards; 

 in the female the upper part of the frons is hairy and the ocellar 



